Neighbors concerned about traffic, parking near Bellingham school construction addition
Bellingham residents living in the neighborhoods near Franklin Academy on Northwest Avenue are sharing concerns about the impacts that could come with the school’s recent proposal to replace a portion of one of its existing buildings with a larger addition.
Franklin Academy is a private, STEM-Integrated Preschool to Middle School. It’s the only STEM-certified school in Whatcom County.
The project proposal is being called the Robins Hall addition, located in the academy’s main building at 3000 Northwest Avenue. The project would replace more than 2,000 square feet of existing building that fronts Northwest Avenue with a new two-story addition.
The addition would provide eight classrooms as well as a commons and cafeteria space.
The city held a well-attended neighborhood meeting to discuss the proposal with the public on Thursday, Sept. 22, a process required with certain development applications. Several people attending the meeting expressed concerns about a potential increase in enrollment and traffic this project could create.
“That’s the biggest concern, I think, here — adding more students would add an incredible amount of traffic to an otherwise quiet neighborhood,” one attendee, who identified themselves as Tori, said in the meeting.
The maximum number of students allowed between both buildings is currently 520, according to Franklin Academy’s Head of School Gretchen Bucsko. There are 393 currently enrolled.
Bucsko said the academy has no plans to increase the allowed maximum enrollment number with this proposed add-on.
“We don’t anticipate that this is going to be a lot more students. It’s just kind of a re-shuffling of what we have now,” Bucsko said.
Long-time neighborhood resident Susan Jewell, who spoke at the meeting, said she had long supported Franklin Academy until the traffic in the area got worse.
“I don’t feel that way quite so much anymore after a couple of years of nightmare traffic,” Jewell said. “I’m not asking for the city to do anything other than to ask for the maximum amount of traffic study to be done on the existing project.”
A project of this size doesn’t require a traffic impact analysis, according to City Planner Sara Ullman. But the city is asking the applicant for some form of traffic memo.
“What we have asked the applicant to do ... is to get an assessment from a traffic engineer — a specialist in the field — to analyze their project scope and provide something in the record for the city to review and for the public to review,” Ullman said at the meeting.
Attendees also shared concerns about the impact of construction and limited parking.
“We definitely understand that parking is a concern and we’re looking at identifying opportunities for additional on-site parking. We’re also reviewing our drop-off and pick-up procedures,” Bucsko said. “But we think actually shifting some of our students from one location to the other should help a lot with that.”
Consolidation of current students
Franklin Academy currently houses three classrooms of second-graders across the street in Markell Hall at 1509 East Victor Street. One of the goals of this project is to be able to relocate those second-grade classrooms to Robin Hall.
“This plan is really rehousing 80 of our current students into six classrooms,” Bucsko said.
The other two classrooms would serve as a STEM maker space and a Spanish specialist classroom.
“It would be allowing better educational spaces for our institution,” Bucsko said.
The library in Markell Hall is being used as a classroom this year, which Bucsko said could be returned to library use with the addition. Bucsko said the current maker space is on the Academy’s performance stage while the current Spanish teacher moves between classrooms using a cart.
“That’s not exactly ideal,” Bucsko said.
Bucsko said this addition is also necessary because the building is old and partially in disrepair. The building was formerly home to a Safeway grocery store and, later, a medical complex before Franklin Academy moved into the space.
“It’s getting a little bit worn around the edges,” Bucsko said.
No official project application had been submitted to the city as of Thursday. The city will continue to accept public comments until the public hearing with the hearing examiner, which is not yet scheduled.
Bucsko told The Bellingham Herald that there is no estimated cost for the project at this time as the school is in the early stages of design.
If the project is approved, construction is expected to begin in June 2024 with completion in fall 2025.
